Buckle Up!

Our minds are trained to believe that in every difficulty of life, all that God has in mind is to deliver and get us out of it.  I’m certain the majority of the prayers lifted up to God concerning the global disruption of the coronavirus has been petition for God to deliver us from it, to intervene and stop it or to bless us with a cure for it.  And there’s nothing wrong with those prayers at all. In fact, I have prayed in that same manner and believe God is able to do all those things.  But I am reminded in the scriptures that God is not always interested in getting his children out of the confusing and painful events of our lives. Sometimes God wants to walk with you through it.  Be reminded of what it says in Isaiah 43. 

 “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called [you] by your name; You [are] Mine. When you pass through the waters, I [will be] with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”
Isaiah 43:1-2

A careful study of God’s Word shows that, yes, God delivers, but God also allows us to endure and go through the waters and the fast moving currents of the rivers and through the fires of adversity and tribulation.  God’s children went through the 10 plagues sent upon Egypt and the three Hebrews went through the consuming fire of Nebuchadnezzar.  They went through their captivity in Babylon, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but God may very well allow us to go through this time of unbelievable change to our nation and the world as we have always known it.  You should buckle up spiritually, because God marks and measures our valleys and listens for our sincere cries for mercy.  Whatever the case may be with the coronavirus, God has not redeemed us or named us to lose us, and we can count on Him taking us through it.